What’s Wrong with this Picture?

Only a few simple changes would transform this set-up into a growing machine!

1) The Tent

In picture: BAY6 Tent

For beginners and bargain hunters, BAY6 Tents are awesome. You won’t get a tent as good for the same price.

But, if your budget’s a bit higher, go for a BudBox. We tried them, we tested them, we did pull ups on one of them! These tents are insanely strong, armed with 25mm powder coated steel poles (XL and bigger). Their white interior is great at reflecting light.

2) The Media

In picture: Bestselling Growing Media

Canna Coco is a bestseller for a reason. It’s pretty darn good. But we’d go for a media mix. Especially if you’re growing in a system.

For example, if you wanted an airy media that's good for rooting, Tropic 70/30 CocoMix is a good shout. It also contains 1% Ecothrive Charge

Or for a coco with a kick, Ecothrive Coco is premixed with Charge at 2%.

You get the idea.

3) The Nutrients

In picture: Leading Coco Nutrient

With most coco feeds, you can get false drain.

This is where water spreads down the sides of your media and out the bottom of pots without wetting your coco properly.

You end up with dry patches where roots can’t grow.

To prevent false drain, you want to use SHOGUN Samurai Coco Nutrients. It has a unique additive (AquaZen Slow Water) that improves your water’s ability to wet coco.

4) The Pots

In picture: Square Pots & Saucers

With a number of plants to manage, you really want a growing system. A RhizoSystem, AutoPot or RhizoWilma would be a great choice for soil and coco growers.

To take your grow up another notch, you could even try a hydro system.

If you don’t fancy a system, at least use RhizoPots. They’re made of fabric so that air can prune roots. In these pots, you’d get a stronger root network with more secondary and tertiary roots. Need we say more?

5) The Lights

In picture: BAY6 Euro Magnetic Lighting Systems

This tent’s 2m tall. You could run 600W or 750W Gavita or 750W HELLION systems in that much space! If using a 750W Gavita, you don't want to crank it up past 750W in this size tent.

With all that extra PAR light, you’ll get around a 30% yield increase. With Gavita E-Series lights, you can also connect them to a Master Controller.

6) The Reflectors

In picture: BAY6 Euro Reflectors

It doesn’t have to be as extreme as swapping your lights - switching reflectors will make a big impact.

7) The Ballasts

In picture: BAY6 Magnetic Ballasts

Magnetic ballasts are fine, but they cost a lot to run. The amount of heat they kick out tells you that much. To save 3 – 4% energy per light, use digital ballasts. They’re also smaller, quieter and prolong lamp life!

8) Spectrum

In picture: No supplemental lights

Don’t get us wrong, the lights in the picture do the job.

But if you really care about the quality of your crop, you need to broaden your spectrum. A CDM light will do the trick.

They don’t cost much to run (they're 315W) but emit wavelengths of light that you won’t get from an HID light.

Plants grown under them produce more essential oils, terpenes and flavonoids – stuff that makes them smell & taste stronger.

You don't have to change your lighting layout - just slot a CDM between two HIDs. They work especially well with Adjust-A-Wings.

9) Ventilation

In picture: Eco Extraction Kit

Low cost kits like this tend to use RVK fans. While they keep initial costs low, you can save more money by investing in an EC fan.

We did the maths, and found that EC fans are so much cheaper to run that you’ll have made back the costs of your kit within a year. After that, the savings keep adding up. EC fans are much quieter, too.

There is no intake fan in this set up, and you do need to actively draw in air. Run an intake fan that's 20% less powerful thank your extractor fan at the same speed. Or you can run a same sized fan at a slower speed. This stops your tent overfilling with air.

10) Humidity

In picture: No humidity control

A humidifier in veg will help plants stay hydrated, and improve nutrient translocation. You may need a dehumidifier in flowering to help prevent bud rot.

11) CO2 Bags

In picture: No CO2 control

You don’t strictly need to add CO2 when exchanging air, because you’re drawing enough in from outside your room.

However, CO2 levels in air tend to be 500 – 600ppm – for best results, you want a CO2 level of 1200ppm. MYCO2 Bags are great for supplementing your CO2 level.

So what do you think of our changes? Would you do anything differently?

Grow rooms can smell pretty funky! You don’t want any tell-tale odours escaping your tent or home. Odour control is key. To get their aroma, plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. The good news is these can be removed. Here are 6 things you should do.

Growing organically? Biobizz is a must - it's 100% organic and lets you grow as nature intended!
Biobizz was first launched more than 25 years ago. It quickly became the first Dutch nutrient range to be Skal and OMRI certified as fully organic. Today, it holds 7 different organic certifications and is sold in 64 countries worldwide.
Here's everything you need to know about the range.